Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie will be hoping to conjure up a master plan to bring about victory in Los Angeles

This Thursday will mark the Whitecaps’ first ever venture into the MLS playoffs and with it, representation as the first ever Canadian team to make this stage, following the continuing demise of Toronto FC back east. It’s a proud moment for honest head coach Martin Rennie in his inaugural season in Vancouver. The Scot has rejuvenated the team and brought about a defensive stability that has made the ‘Caps hard to beat and united the squad and fans as one.

For most, this would be the ideal scenario heading into their playoffs debut. But the Whitecaps could hardly have asked for a tougher draw. The Los Angeles Galaxy are the most high profile MLS club in the world and have really found their form in the latter stages of the season heading into this winner-takes-all match up at the Home Depot Center.

Stuttering would be the best word to describe Craig Levein’s reign as Scotland manager so far. The Kingdom of Fife native walked through the doors of Hampden and took over as national team manager back in 2009 and filled the nation with fresh hope, and a real sense of optimism and belief, following so many let downs from the previous regime under out of sync George Burley. An open goal miss by Chris Iwelumo springs to mind. A memory no doubt members of the Tartan Army will never forget for all the wrong reasons.

Back on Saturday May 19, the two Edinburgh powerhouses of Scottish football descended upon Hampden Park, Glasgow for the Scottish Cup Final. As the referee blew his whistle that day, Heart of Midlothian went on to provide the capacity crowd with a staggering display of attacking football to put lifeless Hibernian to the sword and defeat their rivals by five goals to one. The finish of that game brought the curtain down to end another distinct, dramatic season of football in Scotland and rubber stamp Hearts’ domination of the Edinburgh derby for the past 10 months.« Read the rest of this entry »

Ol’ George Hodgson’s winning time in the 1,500 free? Eight minutes off the current mark held by Sun Yang.

What did an Olympian look like 100 years ago? Slate has put up a dandy collection. Included are great photos of the tug-of-war, Icelandic wrestling, hammer throwers, runners, swimmers and shooters.

*American twitter-ers have been up in arms about NBC’s tape-delayed coverage. Plenty of counter-points have been raised against those complaints, chiefly that most people aren’t on Twitter, and that if it were such a problem, why is NBC setting records?

NPR’s Linda Holmes has written a thoughtful piece, considering both sides of the argument.